East Moline, IL (Sunday, May 1, 2011) - For the first time in 2011 I was able to take in three nights of racing all on the same weekend. Rain showers moved in from the south to cancel Quincy Raceways in Quincy, IL soon enough to head north to the Quad City Speedway in East Moline, IL for there season points opener. In action on the night was the IMCA Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Pro Modifieds, Street Stocks and 4 Cylinders.
The first feature of the night was the 15 lap IMCA Modifieds, with Jake Waterman and Jerry Durbin drawing the front row for the event. Jason Pestka and Dwaine Hasson would collide in turn 1 on the drop of the green to bring the caution out for the first time. On the restart Mark VerVynck would spin in turn 1 to bring the yellow light back on. Waterman grabbed the lead on the restart, with Thad Wilson and John Ahlers following close behind. Ahlers run in the top 3 would come to an end, as he spun to a stop in turn 3 on lap 2 to bring the caution out. On the restart Tim Arp and Dwaine Hasson collided in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. VerVynck then dropped a drive shaft in turn 1 on the restart to bring caution back to the speedway. Once again Waterman moved out front on the restart, with Wilson close behind in second. Waterman worked to hold back Wilson over the next 12 laps. But a lapped car on the final lap would come into play, as Waterman went low coming off turn four to clear the lapped car. But Wilson would stay on the high side to get by Waterman at the line by inches to claim the win. Waterman settled for 2nd, Mitch Morris came from 7th to finish in 3rd, Craig Crawford started 10th and passed 6 cars to take home 4th, with Milo Veloz Jr., who had a flat in the heat, coming from 15th to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 15 lap Street Stock feature, with Chuck Fox and Ron Henry leading the field to the drop of the green. Henry would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Tim Current. Henry then held off Current until a lap 5 caution slowed the battle down. Cord Williams spun in turn 2 to bring out the first yellow of the event. On the restart Henry again moved out into the lead, with Current pressuring him for the top spot. The battle up front would take a big change on lap 6, as Jeremy Marquette, who was running 4th, spun in turn 4 to bring out the caution. At the same time Current slowed in turn 4 and pulled off with troubles. Henry jumped back out front on the restart and then held back Cary Brown over the final 9 laps to pick up the win. Fox was 3rd, Rick Schriner was 4th, with Chris Lawrence finishing fifth.
Ryan Dolan and Jerry Bailey Jr. drew the front row for the 20 lap Pro Modified feature, with Dolan jumping out front on lap 1. Dolan set a fast pace early as he built up a half a track lead over second. But the one and only caution of the race would come out on lap 3 to bring the field back to Dolan's back bumper. Andy Warner stopped in turn 4 to bring out the caution. On the restart Dolan moved back out into the lead, with Brandon Durbin following in second. Durbin would close in on Dolan over the final 2 laps, but Dolan was able to hold on to claim the win. John Bull came home in 3rd, Donovan Lodge was 4th, with Doug Crampton rounding out the top 5.
Up next was the 25 lap IMCA Late Model feature, with Shawn Mulvaney and Mike Zemo Jr. leading the field to the green. Zemo Jr. would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Mulvaney and Terry Neal, who started 5th. The first caution of the event would come out on the completion of lap 1, as Todd Alexander spun in turn 4 with a flat left rear. On the restart Travis Denning, who was running 11th, spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. Zemo Jr. grabbed the lead over Neal and Mulvaney on the restart. The top three cars would start to enter lapped traffic on lap 9, as Neal tried the bottom several times to get by Zemo Jr. Neal would make the move stick on lap 11 as he over took Zemo Jr. for the top spot. But Zemo Jr. would come back on lap 12 to grab the lead back only to have the caution come out before the lap was complete, giving the lead back to Neal for the restart. Jeremy Gustaf would come to a stop in turn 1 to bring out the caution. On the restart Neal moved back out front, with Mulvaney grabbing second from Zemo Jr. Zemo Jr.'s great run up front would come to an end on lap 19 when Mike Garland rolled in turn 1 and collected him, as the two battled for 6th. Neal again jumped out into the lead on the restart, with Mulvaney and Adam Oppendike, who started 6th, battling for second. The last caution of the event came out on lap 20 for debris on the backstretch. Once again Neal grabbed the lead on the restart, with Oppendike over taking Mulvaney for second. Neal then held off a last lap challenge from Oppendike to pick up the win. Mulvaney settled for 3rd, Matt Ryan charged from 17th to take home 4th, with Ray Guss Jr. coming from 10th to finish in fifth.
The final feature of the night was the 12 lap 4 Cylinders, with Wade Dahl and Thomas Patz drawing the front row. Dahl took advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Dustin Forbes and Justin Veloz. The first of two cautions in the event would come out on lap 3, when Aaron Hitt came to a stop in turn 2. On the restart Dahl moved back out into the lead, with Veloz and Bryce Garnhart, who started 8th, battling for 2nd. The battle of the front runners would take a change on lap 8 when Veloz slowed with motor troubles. At the same time Garnhart lost a right front tire in 3 and Jason Blocker came to a stop in turn 4, while running 6th, to bring the final caution out. Dahl again grabbed the lead on the restart and then led the final 4 laps to pick up the win. Brent Terry came from 18th to finish in 2nd, Forbes held on for 3rd, Brandon Dahl passed 17 cars from his 21st starting spot to take home 4th, with Dale Tucker coming from 19th to round out the top 5.
Notes from EM: Ray Cox Jr. scratched from his heat and started the IMCA Modified feature in 18th. He would pass 12 cars to take home a 6th place finish....Tim Arp recovered from his lap 2 crash to come back to finish in 7th....Dwaine Hasson also recovered from the lap 2 crash to come up and finish 10th....Todd Dykema came from 14th to finsih in 11th....Jason Pestka started 17th and finished 13th......Ron Henry claimed the Street Stock feature in a IMCA legal Stock Car....RJ Gonzales came from 12th to take home 6th....Jeremy Marquette recovered from his lap 6 spin to finish in 7th....Rob Nylin and Gerald Ward crashed hard in the heat race and was unable to fix there cars forcing them to scratch from the feature......Mike Murphy Jr. started the IMCA Late Model feature in 18th and passed 11 cars to take home 7th....Eric Sanders came from 19th to finish in 8th....Todd Mahlstrom passed 11 cars from his 20th place starting spot to finish in 9th....Travis Denning, a rookie driver in the IMCA Late Model class in 2011, recovered from his lap 1 spin to come back to finish 13th....Eric Gustaf was suppose to take the green from the 4th spot in the feature, but was late to the line up and was forced to start on the tail. He would make a few laps before pulling off to finish in 18th......Gabe Schrader took the green from the 11th place in the 4 Cylinder feature and passed 5 cars to finish 6th....Mike Wisdom came from 15th to take home 7th....Cameron Poce passed 12 cars from his 20th place starting spot to finish in 8th....Mike Cusack, started 17th and had worked his way to 4th, when he slowed on the final lap with troubles to get credited with 11th....Brandt Cole came from 16th to finish in 12th....Zachary Dahl was running 3rd, when he had a right front flat on the lap 3 restart. He was credited with 18th....Jeremy Kingsley was suppose to start 10th in the feature, but was a scratch.
I would like to thank Dewain Hulett from Tri State Speed Review for keeping me company on the drive up and back.
No comments:
Post a Comment